An Olympian Demystifies Pregnancy

FOLLOW subscribe SEND TIP June 26, 2017 U.S. Olympic runner Alysia Montaño ran in last week’s Track and Field Nationals wearing a Wonder Woman half-shirt that exposed her protruding midriff. Montaño, a six-time national champion, is five months pregnant. After finishing seventh in her 800-meter heat, she told The Washington Post, "I want for my life to be defined by happiness … not just being labeled as a runner." Or perhaps even just a mother. Montaño’s appearance at the Nationals recalls Serena Williams’ accomplishment at this year’s Australian Open, where the tennis legend won her 23rd Grand Slam two months into her pregnancy without losing a set. The feats of both women, while clear displays of extraordinary athleticism, also do a great deal to demystify pregnancy for the rest of us. They show that pregnancy is not all-consuming or universally debilitating; that a woman can carry a child and carry out her day job. Interestingly enough, Montaño says that she was inspired to run by yet another woman, Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, who filmed parts of the blockbuster while expecting. In the Team USA newsletter, Montaño said she was "super stoked" after seeing the movie (hence her uniform choice). "When I found out [Gadot] filmed half the movie five months pregnant, I said, 'I for sure am signing up for USA nationals,'" she said. “I wanted Wonder Woman to represent me.” —@clairezillman . EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA Getting schooled Women in Tanzania are outraged at recent comments by President John Magufuli who said that girls who give birth should be banned from returning to school. At a rally last week, he warned schoolgirls, "After getting pregnant, you are done." (Mr. President, please see above.) A 2002 law allows pregnant girls to be expelled from Tanzanian schools. Women's rights groups are urging the government to change that statute and an online petition is asking Magufuli to apologize for his remarks.  BBC . Cultural misfit In a new column, New York Times opinion writer Shmuel Rosner argues that Miri Regev, Israel's minister of culture and sport, is the wrong person to deliver an important message about how Israel funds its art. Rosner argues that Regev has shown "no affinity for understated, nuanced, civil discourse," an approach that earned her the nickname "Trump in high heels." New York Times . In short order The British schoolboys who last week protested their school's ban on shorts by wearing skirts have won their battle. Officials at Isca Academy said in a statement that although shorts are not part of the uniform for boys, "as summers are becoming hotter, shorts will be introduced as part of our school uniform next year having first consulted with students and parents." Washington Post . THE AMERICAS CFO to CEO? Fortune contributor Arjun Narayan has added another name to the running list of possible Uber CEOs: Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat. "If anyone can navigate an IPO that must both resolve all the complex liquidation preferences in Uber's late stage rounds of financing, and sell the final product to Wall Street," Narayan writes, "it is someone with [Porat's] depth of experience." Fortune . Mega metrics At the VidCon digital video conference last week, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki trotted out some shiny new user metrics to aid in the video-streaming site's battle to lure advertising money away from TV. Chief among them: YouTube now reaches 1.5 billion viewers each month and the average user watches more than an hour of mobile video every day.  Fortune . Hollywood's newest hero The film Wonder Woman has generated more than $620 million in global revenue since it hit theaters three weeks ago, which makes the Patty Jenkins-directed superhero flick the highest-grossing live action film ever directed by a woman. Fortune . content from Accenture Getting to equal The future workforce must be an equal one—and research shows that more women in the workforce helps grow the global economy. Accenture has set a new goal to achieve a gender-balanced workforce by 2025. LEARN MORE . ASIA-PACIFIC A cricketer's clapback On the eve of the Women's World Cup in cricket, a reporter asked India's captain Mithali Raj to name her favorite male cricket star. She had a quick response to the sexist question: "Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favorite female cricketer is?" Huffington Post India . Wild ride Karmila Purba is the first woman stunt motorcycle rider on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. She performs her trick—riding her bike on the vertical walls of a giant barrel—in a traveling circus. "It is scary, but we have to be able to control our emotions," she says, adding that she takes the risks to earn money to support her family. BBC . IN BRIEF The U.S. Senate's Republican women could make or break the GOP health bill Fortune Netflix is canceling 'Girlboss' after only one season Fortune Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova wins her first title since being attacked New York Times Working-class women are too busy for gender theory-but they're still feminists Guardian . . PARTING WORDS "I didn't stop living out my dreams because of one obstacle. I never settle." —Basketball player Yvonne Turner, who, at 29, is the WNBA's oldest rookie. . EMAIL Claire Zillman subscribe share: . 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